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Kate Raymond of the Queensland Building & Construction Commission
Amid the pandemic, construction of all things continues, including pools
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Queensland’s building and construction industry regulator has seen some changes to the industry since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic but swimming pool construction has not slowed down.
The Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) administers the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme and tracks residential construction work covered by the Scheme.
Its data shows that across Queensland, new swimming pool construction jumped from 8,318 in 2018-2019 to 8,605 in 2019-2020. In the current financial year, that number is already at 7,773.
QBCC Assistant Commissioner Service Trades & Regulatory, Kate Raymond, said that as at 22 March, 2021, there were 409,500 pools on the Queensland pool safety register, compared with 400,746 as at 1 July, 2020 and 387,240 as at 1 July, 2019.
The QBCC also regulates the work of its 570 Pool Safety Inspectors, and in the past 12 months took disciplinary action against 50 PSIs who had issued a pool safety certificate to a noncompliant pool. Thirty-seven PSIs received monetary penalties ranging from $100 to $1,000 and in two cases, the inspector’s licence was suspended.
Ms Raymond said the QBCC also takes action against pool owners when required.
“We issued an infringement notice of $2,135 to one owner for failing to provide us with notice of selling their property when there was no pool safety certificate in effect upon settlement,” she said. “We are probably best known for our regulatory work in the more traditional parts of the building and construction sector but pools and pool safety will always be an important focus for us, as we work to keep people safe in any and all built environments.”
Ms Raymond said that the COVID pandemic had brought challenges but that overall, the industry had coped well and continued to experience strong demand.
The QBCC’s summer 2020 public pool safety campaign sought to educate property owners, pool safety inspectors, property managers, landlords and tenants about their pool safety responsibilities.
“To help us to do this as effectively as possible, we collaborated with Queensland’s Residential Tenancies Authority,” Ms Raymond said.
“They were able to help us to reach property owners, property managers and tenants, to give them a better understanding of their obligations, and to enable us to work together to ensure their pool and surrounding areas are safe, compliant and maintained.”
